India’s next phase of economic growth is placing new demands on the companies that support its mining, infrastructure and manufacturing sectors. As these industries expand, businesses are required to operate with greater speed, visibility and coordination, while also preparing for a more digital and AI-enabled future. For many, that starts with the digital core.

Solar Industries India Limited is taking that step as it continues to scale across industrial explosives, detonators and defence products. The company is reshaping its enterprise backbone to simplify complexity, connect operations more closely and support the next phase of its growth journey.

The need became clearer as the business expanded. Solar Industries had previously moved to SAP S/4HANA, but much of the complexity from its earlier ERP environment continued into the new setup. Several third-party applications still supported important workflows across sales, distribution and transport-linked processes, making the overall landscape harder to integrate and govern.

“We were not looking at this as just a system upgrade” said Shailendra Tiwari, CIO, Solar Industries India Limited. “As we scale across businesses, we need a more integrated and standardized digital foundation that can improve visibility across functions, simplify complexity and support stronger operational control. In our industry, that is essential to sustaining long-term growth.”

To address this, Solar Industries undertook “Project GajPrastha” a greenfield SAP S/4HANA reimplementation anchored in value-driven process re-engineering. The objective is broader than replacing systems alone: it includes cleaning up historical custom developments, strengthening master data, revisiting organizational structures and bringing more of the business onto a unified digital platform.

The scope of the program reflects that ambition. The transformation spans 11 SAP modules and moved from kickoff to go-live in 11 months. It has helped strengthen capabilities across treasury, extended warehouse management, transport management, document management and plant maintenance, while aiming to bring previously dispersed processes into a more integrated SAP-led environment.

IBM Consulting is working with Solar Industries on this transformation initiative. Alongside the core implementation, the engagement also includes planned parallel innovation initiatives, including SAP BTP-based sales and treasury dashboards intended to improve visibility and decision-making. Track-and-trace capabilities are also being integrated into the SAP environment, with the intention of enabling the company to move away from a third-party application and simplify the wider technology landscape.

“This collaboration with Solar Industries reflects a broader shift in how enterprises are approaching transformation,” said Rishi Aurora, Managing Partner, IBM Consulting India and South Asia. “Organizations are increasingly focusing on how digital core transformation can simplify operations, improve data consistency and create a stronger foundation for future innovation. Our role is to help connect transformation decisions more closely to business outcomes.”

This transformation initiative is intended to support productivity improvements, working capital improvements, cost optimization and revenue impact.

“Working with IBM Consulting, our focus is on building long-term business readiness,” Tiwari added. “A cleaner, more connected enterprise backbone helps us operate with greater consistency, respond faster to business needs and create a stronger data foundation for the future.”

Originally published in DataQuest, this editorial case study is reproduced here with permission for informational purposes.